Upgrades & Downgrades: Bulls Run on Dunkin'

Wall Street ratings agencies set the tone for today's stock market.

MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL Zeus, the Greek god of thunder, was angry yesterday, as France's freshly sworn-in president can attest to after a pitch-perfect metaphor for Europe's fiscal crisis. Après Athens, le déluge? Storm clouds, economic and otherwise, sent the Dow (^DJI) down for a ninth day in 10, as the Cradle of Democracy remained curiously unable to form a government. (And Avon (AVP), the worst of all 500 stocks in the S&P (^GSPC), is in no position to put lipstick on any PIIGS after the cosmetics company nosedived 9.74%.) The euro fell to its lowest level since January and, on a day dedicated to the oilmen of Dallas, petroleum plunged to a new 2012 trough. No worries J.R. - that bath is likely just a bad dream. Homebuilder sentiment hit a five-year high but all's not well over at the House of Morgan (JPM), where Jamie Dimon faced awkward questions about a $2 billion trading loss. The CEO was once feted for buying Bear Stearns for less than David Beckham cost. Yet yesterday, while the bank's contentious shareholder meeting was taking place, Becks was parading an impressive return on investment with Obama at the White House, so who's laughing now? Meanwhile the president, an avowed critic of fat cats, reported net worth of $8.27 million, including a private client checking account at…JPMorgan.

Elsewhere General Motors (GM) unfriendedFacebook but Penthouse magazine publisher FriendFinder (FFN) has all the acquaintances it can handle after surging 20.65%. American Science & Engineering (ASEI), which makes x-ray equipment for security inspections such as at airports, tumbled 23.96%. No comment from Henry Kissinger on that, though the Beijing expert will be troubled to see China's ownership of our economy increase yet again. In analyst action, one Wall Street researcher disliked McDonald's (MCD) as much as they do in Athens but, adding insult to injury for the beleaguered country, the stock actually ended up on an otherwise dire day. And a US-Columbia free trade agreement took effect at midnight, though the Secret Service and certain ladies of the night, showing commendable entrepreneurial spirit, got in on the act several weeks ago. Today's financial events include the release, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, of minutes from the FOMC's April 24-25 policy meeting. On the corporate front, expect quarterly earnings announcements out of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Chico's FAS (CHS), Deere (DE), Hot Topic (HOTT), Jack in the Box (JACK), Limited Brands (LTD), NetEase (NTES), Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB), Staples (SPLS), and Target (TGT).

Initiations:

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM): The small cap is begun with a Strong Buy at Ascendiant Capital Markets, whose price objective is $4.25. They say it is one of the best positioned, pure play regenerative medicine companies.

Patriot Coal (PCX): PCX, downgraded elsewhere this morning, is picked up with an Underperform at Imperial Capital, whose target price is $2.50. The broker believes its market cap is too high given adjusted leverage and dilution potential.

ReachLocal (RLOC): Shares are initiated with an Outperform and $12 target Outperform at Imperial Capital.

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